Heated Gear Triage
Monday, February 17th, 2014
No, it wasn't this cold on Friday, but it sure wasn't warm.
On Sunday we finally got the warmth we had been promised but denied on Friday and Saturday. What a glorious day to be out on the bike.
Meanwhile, believing the weather forecast, I rode to work on Friday without wearing all my warmest gear.
Of course I wore my heated vest. If you don’t wear anything else, the vest is essential. If your core body is warm you can tolerate a little coolness in the extremities. I’m not saying it’s pleasant to have your fingertips pinched by the cold but having your torso bathed in wonderful warmth is just that . . . wonderful.
So I didn’t wear my electric gloves and yes, my fingers were a bit nipped by the time I got all the way out to Lakewood. But my biggest mistake was in footwear. I just didn’t feel like walking around in boots all day and I figured, hey, it’s supposed to get up to 60 today–I’ll just wear shoes. Of course, getting up to 60 (which it didn’t) and being 60 at 8 a.m. when I’m heading to work are two entirely different things.
When was the last time you said to yourself, “I’m pretty warm and comfortable all over except my ankles are freezing!”
Boy, and they were, too. Boots aren’t electric but they don’t have to be. All they have to do is keep the cold wind off that part of your body.
So yeah, we all get stupid some times, don’t we? You never outgrow it. You learn by experience and maybe you never do THAT again but then you do something else. And you get to learn by experience again, only this time it’s something a little different that you’ve learned and then you never do THAT again. But there’s always another THAT.
Maybe I need a winter variation on ATGATT (all the gear, all the time). How about ATHGWIC? (Hey, that’s catchy, isn’t it?) That would stand for “all the heated gear whenever it’s cold.” Except in my case I might want to add DFB (don’t forget boots). ATHGWICDFB. Oh, now we’re really catchy. Just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?
Let’s try again.
WEWIC. That would be “wear electrics when it’s cold.”
Or maybe ATHGATW (all the heated gear all the winter). Do I have to add AB for “and boots” (ATHGABATW)?
OK, I give up. Whoever came up with ATGATT did a terrific job; I’m not going to match that. Who knows, maybe just remembering those cold ankles will be all the reminder I need. In fact, I’m sure it will. Until the next time I get stupid.
Biker Quote for Today
In the grand scheme of things, what’s it matter? Forget it! Let’s ride.
